Police sources are now saying that an estimated 50,000 illegal immigrants, coming through Morocco, have poured into the Spanish territory of Ceuta and Melilla in just 24 hours.
The estimate is far in excess of what was reported across media channels yesterday, and comes as some of Italy most senior politicians call for the suspension of Spain from the Schengen Area which allows free travel across 29 European countries.
ABC Espana, reporting from the ground, said that they had interviewed an immigrant who said someone had posted on Instagram that: “the Spanish police were finding Moroccans at sea and not returning them.”
“It started like that, and then everyone started coming,” he says from the edge of the beach, where many gather looking out to sea, where forgotten shoes accumulate, floating on the water.
The news service also reported that migrants said that the Moroccan police did not prevent thousands of people from illegally crossing to Ceuta. France 24 also said that “migrants walked through the streets of Ceuta, thanking the Spanish police and calling out: “Bye bye, Morocco, hello Spain”.”
Italian Prime Minister, Georgia Meloni said that the images from Ceuta showed the threat from uncontrolled illegal immigration and the failure to secure Europe’s borders.
“The images coming from Ceuta are striking and demonstrate, once again, that uncontrolled illegal immigration poses a concrete threat to the security of Europe’s borders, ” she said.
“I have spoken with Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi. Italy will not stand by and watch. We are convening the relevant bodies, and following these meetings, we are prepared to intervene with extraordinary measures to defend the borders and the safety of citizens, including the suspension of the Schengen Area with Spain.”
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani also slammed the Spanish government for its recent decision to grant citizenship to illegal immigrants.
“I am in favor of closing the Schengen Area to Spain and have full confidence in Minister Piantedosi’s actions. Irregular and uncontrolled immigration poses a danger to national security. The images coming from Ceuta show how the Madrid Government’s decision to grant Spanish, and therefore European, citizenship to over 500,000 irregular immigrants is profoundly wrong and encourages human trafficking,” he said.
Footing of migrants pouring into the Spanish territories from neighbouring Morocco have attracted significant international attention.
Critics have pointed to the ruling by Spain’s Supreme Court which recently found that migrants intercepted at sea while attempting to reach Ceuta or Melilla cannot be summarily returned under the enclaves’ special “border rejection” regime, but must be processed in Spain.
However, Spain’s government denied that its decision to grant citizenship has caused the surge, blaming the “exploitation by mafias and criminal organizations”.
But a Guardia Civil spokesperson said: “It has been a slow trickle since the Supreme Court’s ruling, but today has been an explosion,”